The Warriors arrived in South Beach having won four straight and seven of their past eight games - a stretch that grabbed the attention of the league's elite and has many fans believing again.

"Our goal at the start of the season was to make the playoffs and to gain respect, to be a team that's no longer laughed at or a team you can sit guys out against," Warriors power forward David Lee said.

The Warriors (14-7) have clearly gained James' respect, and a win at Miami would go a long way toward creating the momentum needed for accomplishing the loftier goal of the team's first postseason appearance since 2007.

Last season, the Warriors needed three miracles and a Miami disaster to pull off an upset, but they believe times have changed.

When Golden State beat the visiting Heat 111-106 in overtime Jan. 10, Dorell Wright went 6-of-11 from three-point range, Nate Robinson made all 14 of his free-throw attempts, and the Warriors overcame a 17-point third-quarter deficit. Plus, Dwyane Wade was hobbled by a bruised left foot.

"In the past, everything had to go right," coach Mark Jackson said. "We had to do what we do, and they had to make some mistakes. Now, if we do what we're supposed to do, we're going to be fine.

"It shows how far we've come and it shows the mind-set of this basketball team."

The Warriors haven't played perfect ball in winning the first four game of this season-long seven-game road trip, but they've found ways to close out victories that probably would have been losses in the past. Though they've created some anxious moments, the Warriors are 8-1 when leading at halftime and 9-0 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter.

They led Detroit on Wednesday by 20 points with 11:47 to go and by nine with 1:46 left. But they let the Pistons close the deficit to 98-95 with 1:08 remaining.

Against Washington on Saturday, the Warriors led by eight points with 2:19 remaining, but the Wizards trimmed it to 97-96 with 8.8 seconds left. And on Monday in Charlotte, the Warriors led by 19 at the start of the fourth and by 14 with 5:22 remaining, but the Bobcats closed to within six points with 16.6 seconds on the clock.

"That can come back to haunt us or bite us when we play against the elite teams," Jackson said. "But we're doing things to put ourselves in position to have leads in these ballgames and to win while making mistakes. I'm not going to put them on the line and say, 'Let's run suicides.' I'm going to talk about it, address it and get better."

They'll need to be better against Miami, which has won six games in which it trailed in the fourth quarter. Four times it has come back from seven points or more in the fourth quarter - a frame that on Wednesday could indicate just how far the Warriors have come.

"I don't think if we beat these guys it means that all of sudden we're a top two team, and if we lose that all of a sudden we're awful," Lee said. "I think the biggest thing is that we're going into this game believing that we can win."

And going in with the King's respect.

Wednesday's game

Who: Warriors (14-7) vs. Heat (14-5)

Where: Miami

When: 4:30 p.m.

TV/Radio: CSNBA/680

Of note: Miami is 10-1 at home this season, losing only to New York on Thursday. ... The Heat have scored at least 100 points in 10 of their 11 home games and have shot better than 50 percent in more than half of their overall games, including shooting at least 58 percent in the past two. ... Miami's defense has allowed an average of only three fastbreak points in the past three games, yielded only six second-chance points to Atlanta on Monday, and gave up nine points off turnovers to New Orleans on Saturday. ... LeBron James has scored at least 20 points in each of the first 19 games. The streak stretches to 24 games dating back to last season and 40 games when including the playoffs. ... Dwyane Wade has scored 52 points in the past two games, connecting on 20 of 25 field-goal attempts.

- Rusty Simmons

It's a start

The Warriors are above .500 through 21 games for the first time since the 2007-08 season, when they missed the playoffs despite finishing 48-34. How the start to this season compares to the previous four:

'12-13

'11-12

'10-11

'09-10

'08-09

Wins through 21 games

14

8

8

7

6

Points per game

99.7

97.7

101.7

108.6

105.7

Points against per game

98.7

100

106.8

112.5

111.5

Margin

+1.0

-2.3

-5.1

-3.9

-5.8

Final wins

23

36

26

29

Note: It's the Warriors' best 21-game start since the 1991-92 season, when they also started 14-7, and finished 55-27, the third seed in the West. The best 21-game start in franchise history is 15-6, achieved five times, including the championship seasons of 1974-75 and 1955-56.